Map: Do We Still Need Record Stores?

Tomorrow is a dark day for many a Seattle vinyl enthusiast — Easy Street Records, the lower Queen Anne record store, is closing after serving the Emerald City for more than a dozen years. Many are bemoaning the loss of the Queen Anne record store, but what about you? Do record stores matter to you? I mean, do they really matter? Do you still buy music from stores, and how much?

With music available online through iTunes and services like Spotify, why do we still need record stores? Ross Reynolds talks with local music writer Charles Cross, Sarah Moody from Hardly Art and Eli Anderson from Neumos and takes listener calls.

Here is our map of closed record stores in the Seattle area. We've tried to be inclusive, but if you remember one and want it added to the mix please email us with the record store's name, previous location and if possible, the year that it closed. (Map credit: Amber Cortes.)

Sub Pop Records may have started small but the label has always made a big impression. Sup Pop, which began as a fanzine and evolved into a record label in the late 1980s, is considered the epicenter of the grunge movement. Megan Jasper, vice president at Sub Pop, gives Ross Reynolds a tour of the office.